Snow vehicle for distributing dust on snow surfaces

ABSTRACT

A snow vehicle is described for distributing dust in a thin layer on a snow surface behind the vehicle as the vehicle is propelled over the snow surface to cause the snow to melt sooner than normal. The snow vehicle has an elevated hopper with a rotating rotor positioned below the hopper to receive the dust. The rotor is partially enclosed with a housing to develop a directional flow of air through the housing as the rotor is rotating to flow the dust from the rotor horizontally rearward from the vehicle to deposit the dust in a thin layer on the snow surface.

United States Patent Bourton [4 1 July 1 l, 1972 54 SNOW VEHICLE FOR DISTRIBUTING 3,540,655 11/1970 Hll'lllChS ..239/668 x DUST ON SNOW SURFACES 3,523,648 8/1970 .....239/668 3,171,658 3/1965 .....239/666 lnventerI Hubert Bowen, Star Route. Waterville, 2,327,895 8/1943 Holden ..239/654 Wash. 98858 Primary Examiner-M. Henson Wood, Jr. [22] Flled' 1970 Assistant Examinerlhomas C. Culp, Jr. [21 Appl. No.2 100,878 Attorney-Wells, St. John 84 Roberts 7 ABSTRACT [52] US. Cl ..239/668 [5 I [51 Int. Cl A01 17/00 A snow vehicle is described for distributing dust in a thin layer [58] Field of Search ..239/654, 665, 666, 668; on a Show surface hin h vehicle as the vehicle is 222 410 propelled over the snow surface to cause the snow to melt sooner than normal. The snow vehicle has an elevated hopper 56] References Cited with a rotating rotor positioned below the hopper to receive the dust. The rotor is partially enclosed with a housing to UNITED STATES PATENTS develop a directional flow of air through the housing as the rotor is rotating to flow the dust from the rotor horizontally 3,5 12,721 Barlow et al rearward f the vehicle to p i h dust in a thin layer on 2,010,287 8/1935 Anderson ....239/666 the Snow Surface 3,109,657 1 1/1963 Dreyer ..239/665 3,586,246 6/1971 Van Der Lely ..239/665 5 Claims 5 Drawing Figures PATENTEDJUL I 1 I972 3. 675 8 57 v sum 1 BF 3 INVENTQR. Hu 5 er- Bourhn Mm, k9. @QAJIK PATENTEDJUL 11 m2 3.67 5.857

I saw 2 OF 3 FIG. 2

INVENTOR. Huber-f Bourf'on wnmkgakgw SNOW VEHICLE FOR DISTRIBUTING DUST ON SNOW SURFACES BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to snow vehicles and more particularly to snow vehicles for distributing dust on snow surfaces to facilitate the melting of the snow.

It is not unusual in many agricultural areas for the snow to occasionally persist well into the normal planting season. When this occurs, frequently snow mold will develop on the ground covered by the snow, which has detrimental effects on this growth of crops subquently planted. Consequently, it is often desirable to accelerate the melting of the snow so that the ground can be planted at the proper time under the proper moisture conditions. Many methods have been devised for accelerating the melting of the snow, but most of them have been discarded because they are not commercially economical. It has been found that by placing a thin layer of fine dust on the snow surface that the dust will remain on the snow surface and absorb heat from the suns rays to melt the snow underneath. It has been found that the discharge of larger particles onto the snow does not create this same effect because the particles when they absorb heat do not remain on the snow surface but drop downward into the snow and are not further exposed to the suns rays.

It has been found that conventional sand and agricultural fertilizer distributors are ineffective for distributing the fine dust particles required to accomplish the task. Many of the distributors utilize a rotor and a plurality of radial blades thereon for receiving the sand or agricultural particles and physically slinging the particles outward in all directions by centrifugal forces. Such distributors are effective in distributing relatively large size particles, but they are ineffective for distributing fine dust which is required for the melting of the snow. It has been found that by utilizing such distributors that a cloud of fine dust is created in all directions about the distributor with much of the dust moving upward to form a cloud and engulfing the distributor and the operator of the vehicle.

One of the principal objects of this invention is to provide a light weight snow vehicle that is capable of distributing fine dust in a thin layer over the snow without the problems associated with conventional distributors.

An additional object of this invention is to provide a snow vehicle that is relatively inexpensive to manufacture which may be pulled by a snow mobile over the snow surface to economically distribute a thin layer of dust onto the snow surface.

A further object of this invention is to provide a means of directing the dust in a substantially horizontal direction behind the vehicle with little or none of the dust moving forward to pollute the air breathed by the operator.

These and other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent upon the reading of the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS A preferred embodiment of this invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a snow vehicle for distributing dust on a snow surface in which the vehicle is being pulled by a snow mobile;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the snow vehicle illustrated in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a vertical cross-sectional view taken along line 3 3 in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a horizontal cross-sectional view taken along line 4--4 in FIG. 3; and

FIG. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the underside of a section of a hopper showing a slide valve for regulating the flow of dust from the hopper.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now in detail to the drawings, there is shown in FIG. 1 a snow vehicle generally designated by the numeral being pulled by a snow mobile 11. Other types of like prime movers could be utilized for pulling the snow vehicle 10 to accomplish its intended purpose. The reason that a snow mobile is shown is that such a prime mover is frequently readily available in geographical areas having heavy snowfalls.

The snow vehicle has a sled 13 supporting a light weight frame 14. The bed is formed on the frame 14 having a front end 15a and a rear end 15b. The frame 14 includes cross members 16 and 17 that extend transverse to the longitudinal direction of the snow vehicle. Sled 13 includes three longitudinally directed runners 20, 21 and 22. The runner 21 is positioned centrally under the bed 15 and extends forward of the side rubbers and 22. Leaf spring 23 provides a spring support between the cross member 16 and the runner 21. Leaf springs 24 provide a spring support between the side runners 20 and 22 with the cross member 17. The snow vehicle has a tongue 26 fixed to the frame 14 and extending forward of the front end 15a for attachment to the snow mobile 11 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

An upright frame 28 is mounted on the bed 15 adjacent the rear end 15b. The upright frame 28 includes channel members 30 that extend upward in a substantially vertical direction. A hopper 32 is mounted on the upright members 30 for receiving and storing the dust to be deposited in a thin layer on the snow behind the vehicle. The hopper 32 has inclined sides 34 that extend downward and inward to a bottom 35. The bottom 35 has a central aperture 37 formed therein and an elongated discharge outlet 38 offset from the central aperture 34 for allowing dust to flow through the bottom of the hopper downwardly to a distributor assembly 40.

The distributor assembly 40 includes a vertical shaft 41 that is rotatably mounted on the upright frame 28 by vertically spaced bearing pulley brackets 42 and 43. The shaft 41 has an upper end 46 that extends upward through the central aperture 37 in the bottom of the hopper. A radial finger 47 is mounted on the upper end 46 and extends radially outward terminating in an end 43 that passes over the elongated discharge outlet 38 as the shaft 41 is rotated to prevent the outlet 38 from becoming clogged and to enable the dust to flow evenly through the outlet 38. The shaft 41 has a lower end 50 with a pulley 51 mounted thereon.

The distributor assembly 40 includes a distributor rotor 52 aflixed on the shaft 41 in a substantially horizontal orientation intermediate the ends 46 and 60. Distributor rotor 52 includes a disk shaped horizontal plate 53 having a plurality of radial blades or vanes 54 affixed on the upper side of the plate 53.

A stationary housing 56 (FIGS. 3 and 4) partially encloses the distributor rotor 52 to develop a directional flow of air through the housing in conjunction with the rotation of the distributor rotor for blowing the dust from the distributor through a rearward directed elongated housing opening 55 in a substantially horizontal spray pattern rearward of the vehicle. The housing 56 includes a peripheral curved wall 57 affixed to the uprights 30. The peripheral curved wall 57 has a radius of curvature substantially greater than the radius of the disk shaped plate 53. The peripheral curved wall 57 circumscribes greater than 180 of the distributor rotor 52. The peripheral curved wall 57 has ends that extend rearward beyond the periphery of the rotor 52. The peripheral curved wall 57 is mounted adjacent the distributor rotor 52 with the curved wall 57 being nearly tangent to the distributor rotor 52 at the center of the curved wall 57 intermediate the ends.

The housing 56 includes an upper wall 58 that is affixed to the peripheral curved wall 57 and extends horizontally from the peripheral curved wall over the distributor rotor 52 terminating in a rear edge 60 at the opening 55 rearward of the periphery of the rotor 52 to prevent the dust from being directed upward and to provide a conduit in conjunction with the rotor to develop a directional flow of air through the housing to blow the dust out the opening 55. A slot 62 is formed in the upper wall 58 extending inward from the edge 60 past the shaft 41 to provide an inlet 66. The housing 56 further includes a bottom plate 63 (FIG. 3) affixed to the peripheral curved wall and extending inward toward the shaft 41 underneath the distributor plate 53 to prevent the dust from dropping from the edge of the plate 53 onto the bed.

A spout 70 is affixed to the bottom 35 of the hopper 32 adjacent the outlet 38 to direct the dust from the outlet 38 through the inlet 66 and onto the distributor rotor 52 adjacent the shaft 41.

The snow vehicle has a slide valve 71 (FIG. 5) mounted on the bottomside of the hopper 32 in association with the outlet 38 to regulate the amount of dust flowing through the [5 outlet 38. The slide valve 71 includes slide guides 72 and 73 affixed to the bottom 35 parallel and on opposite sides of the outlet 38. A slide blade 74 is slidably mounted between the slide guides 72 and 73 for movement parallel with the elongated discharge outlet for progressively covering the outlet when the slot blade 74 is moved in one direction and progressively opening the outlet when the blade is moved in an opposite direction. The slide valve 71 is operated by a lever 76 that is pivotally mounted by a bracket 77. A link 78 interconnects one end of the lever 76 with the slide blade 74. The lever 76 may be operated manually to adjust the amount of dust passing through the outlet 38 which in turn regulates the density of the dust being deposited on the snow surface.

The shaft 41 is rotated by a motor 80 mounted on the bed 15. The motor drives the shaft 41 through a belt 81 that extends between the motor and the pulley 51. A tension pulley 82 is mounted between the motor 80 and the pulley 51 engaging the belt 81 to maintain a desired tension on the belt and to prevent the belt vibrating.

To operate the vehicle the tongue 26 is attached to the snow mobile 11. The hopper 32 is filled with the fine dust material with the slide valve 41 opened as dictated by the operating conditions. The motor 80 is started to rotate the shaft 41. It has been found that the operation is most successful when the shaft 41 is rotated at approximately 1,500 rpms. The snow mobile 11 then pulls the snow vehicle over the snow surface to deposit a thin layer of dust on the snow surface. As distributor rotor 52 rotates, the blades or vanes 54 as they pass through the angular housing 56 create a directional flow of air through the housing in a similar manner to a centrifugal blower so that as the dust particles leave the housing 56 through the opening 55 they are blown outward in a substantially horizontal spray pattern of less that 180 from the rear of the vehicle with little of the dust being blown upward to create a cloud. in this manner, the dust is fanned out behind the vehicle to deposit an even thin layer on the snow surface.

it has been found that for the dust to be effective, it must be of a sufficiently small size to pass through a standard 50 mesh screen or smaller. Larger particles are rather ineffective because as they absorb heat from the sun rays they melt the snow immediately below the particle and drop below the surface of the snow without melting all of the adjacent snow. It is found that dust which will pass through a 50 mesh screen or smaller will maintain itself on the snow surface while the snow is melting. If it were not for the housing 56 and the action of the vanes 54 with respect to the housing to create a horizontal directional movement of the air to blow the dust rearward instead of attempting to physically throw the dust in a manner similar to the conventional distributor the vehicle would be ineffective. The density of the dust layer on the snow can be regulated by adjusting the slide valve 71 and varying the speed of the snow mobile over the snow.

It should be appreciated that the snow vehicle is extremely light weight and relatively inexpensive to meet the needs of rather small farmers. It has been found that the snow vehicle is particularly efiective in the wheat farming areas having substantial snow fall. It has been found that by utilizing the snow vehicle, a thin layer of dust can be deposited on the snow that will melt the snow at least two weeks sooner than normal to enable the farmer to plant under the best moisture conditions and to prevent snow mold.

It should be appreciated that the above described embodiment is simply illustrative of the principles of the invention and that numerous other embodiments may be readily devised without deviating from the principles thereof. Therefore, only the following claims are intended to define this invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A snow vehicle for distributing dust on a snow surface as the' vehicle is propelled over the snow surface comprising:

a sled supported frame; I

a hopper supported on the frame for supporting dust. said hopper having a discharge outlet therein to discharge the dust therefrom;

a distributor mounted on the frame for receiving the dust discharged from the hopper and directing the dust outward from the vehicle and depositing the dust out in a thin layer on the snow surface to facilitate the melting of the snow; said distributor comprising:

a disk shaped distributor rotor rotatably mounted on the frame having a plurality of blades to receive the dust from the hopper;

drive means for rotating the rotor to accelerate the dust radially outward therefrom;

housing means enclosing a sector of the rotor with an opening directed rearward in relation to the direction of movement of the snow vehicle for developing in association with the rotor a directional flow of air through the rotor to blow the dust from the rotor rearward of the vehicle as the vehicle is propelled over the snow to deposit a thin layer of dust on the snow behind the vehicle;

said housing means having a peripheral curved wall circumscribing the sector of the rotor for preventing the dust from being directed outward from the vehicle along the sector; and

said housing means having an upper wall extending inward from the peripheral curved wall over the sector of the rotor to prevent dust from being directed upward from the rotor and for forming a partial enclosure in conjunction with the peripheral curved wall and the rotor to develop a directional flow of air through the enclosure when the rotor is rotated to blow the dust radially from the rotor and rearward from the vehicle.

2. The snow vehicle as defined in claim 1 wherein the rotor is rotated about a substantially vertical axis and wherein an inlet is formed in the upper wall adjacent the vertical axis with the dust being directed from the hopper through the inlet onto the rotor adjacent the vertical axis.

3. The snow vehicle as defined in claim 1 wherein the rotor is mounted on a substantially vertical shaft rotated by the drive means in which the shaft has an upper end extending upward through the hopper spaced from the discharge outlet with a finger element mounted on the upper end and extending therefrom for passing over the discharge outlet as the shaft is rotated to prevent the discharge outlet from becoming clogged and to maintain a steady flow of material therethrough.

4. The snow vehicle as defined in claim 1 further comprising a slide valve means associated with the hopper discharge outlet for regulating the flow of dust from the hopper discharge outlet and onto the roller. 

1. A snow vehicle for distributing dust on a snow surface as the vehicle is propelled over the snow surface comprising: a sled supported frame; a hopper supported on the frame for supporting dust, said hopper having a discharge outlet therein to discharge the dust therefrom; a distributor mounted on the frame for receiving the dust discharged from the hopper and directing the dust outward from the vehicle and depositing the dust out in a thin layer on the snow surface to facilitate the melting of the snow; said distributor comprising: a disk shaped distributor rotor rotatably mounted on the frame having a plurality of blades to receive the dust from the hopper; drive means for rotating the rotor to accelerate the dust radially outward therefrom; housing means enclosing a sector of the rotor with an opening directed rearward in relation to the direction of movement of the snow vehicle for developing in association with the rotor a directional flow of air through the rotor to blow the dust from the rotor rearward of the vehicle as the vehicle is propelled over the snow to deposit a thin layer of dust on the snow behind the vehicle; said housing means having a peripheral curved wall circumscribing the sector of the rotor for preventing the dust from being directed outward from the vehicle along the sector; and said housing means having an upper wall extending inward from the peripheral curved wall over the sector of the rotor to prevent dust from being directed upward from the rotor and for forming a partial enclosure in conjunction with the peripheral curved wall and the rotor to develop a directional flow of air through the enclosure when the rotor is rotated to blow the dust radially from the rotor and rearward from the vehicle.
 2. The snow vehicle as defined in claim 1 wherein the rotor is rotated about a substantially vertical axis and wherein an inlet is formed in the upper wall adjacent the vertical axis with the dust being directed from the hopper through the inLet onto the rotor adjacent the vertical axis.
 3. The snow vehicle as defined in claim 1 wherein the rotor is mounted on a substantially vertical shaft rotated by the drive means in which the shaft has an upper end extending upward through the hopper spaced from the discharge outlet with a finger element mounted on the upper end and extending therefrom for passing over the discharge outlet as the shaft is rotated to prevent the discharge outlet from becoming clogged and to maintain a steady flow of material therethrough.
 4. The snow vehicle as defined in claim 1 further comprising a slide valve means associated with the hopper discharge outlet for regulating the flow of dust from the hopper discharge outlet and onto the roller.
 5. The snow vehicle as defined in claim 1 wherein the dust particles are of sufficiently small size to pass through a 50 mesh screen. 